The natural state of Rayo Vallecano is continuous agitation. The lack of calm has been the historical driving force of a team that was nicknamed ‘giant killers’. He came to play in Europe, was a pioneer in the development of women’s football in Spain – now abandoned -, signed Hugo Sanchez, was on the brink of disappearance with Ruiz-Mateos… Many marks on the body of a club that is experiencing a turbulent season, not due to a lack of objectives, but quite the opposite. The Rayo of the recently presented Iñigo Pérez receives the leader Real Madrid after dismissing Francisco, seven points above relegation and with Vallecas on the warpath for an announced relocation.
In sports, the Madrid team is experiencing a deep hangover from last season, in which it finished eleventh after having a great year under the command of Andoni Iraola. The Basque coach was the executor of Rayo’s return to First Division. With a very marked style he managed to put the team in the middle class of LaLiga. Presa and David Cobeño, sports director of the entity, have opted for the ‘memory effect’ with the hiring of Iñigo Pérez, who was the Gipuzkoan’s second-in-command.
El Rayo, bottom of the second round
The interest in the former Osasuna, Numancia or Athletic player comes from afar. Before hiring Francisco, he was already the main option that was considered for the Vallecas bench. Iñigo Pérez preferred to leave with Iraola to accompany him at Bournemouth, but his adventure was frustrated due to problems with his work permit. because of the bureaucratic rigmarole that ‘Brexit’ has entailed. It will be his first experience as a head coach. He hung up his boots in the summer of 2022 and accepted Iraola’s offer at Rayo after Unai Mendia left for Bolívar with Beñat San Jose.
Iñigo Pérez will benefit from knowing a locker room that lacks confidence. It has taken its toll on Francisco that Rayo has been unable to win a single game in Vallecas, through which the rest of the objectives are built. If only the data from the second round are taken into account, he Ray I would be bottom, with only one point added. The great statistical handicap of the franjirrojos is their offensive ineffectiveness. Cádiz is the only team that has scored fewer goals so far this season (15 compared to 21 for the Rayistas, tied with Mallorca).
Falcao is a veteran facing the end of his career. Camello fulfills his role as a ‘false 9’, but he is by no means a scorer of more than ten goals, a role that Álvaro Rodríguez is heading towards as an extreme. All the spotlights point to Raúl de Tomás, the most expensive signing in the history of the Vallecano team (8 million euros). The big bet, with a contract until 2027, that he has gone from ownership to substitute in the midst of a conflict with Francisco.
Francisco Rodríguez, in a game as coach of Rayo. / EP
Presa: “The stadium has not been fair to Francisco”
“Raúl and I have had many conversations throughout the season. He is a guy who does everything, like me. He has to do his part and it is important, both what he does on the field and on a day-to-day basis” , acknowledged the former Rayo coach. At his farewell, Francisco was supported by important players like Isi Palazón. “Grateful for your work and professionalism. For your honesty as a coach and kindness as a person. Good luck for the future, you deserve it,” he wrote a player who had a season last year that made him a candidate to go with the national team.
He paid a high cost, as he admitted in an interview in which he spoke of the moments in which Rayo flirted with Europe. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack, that I was going to die… I didn’t want to tell my family anything and that was the worst mistake I had,” he confessed. At the presentation of Iñigo Pérez as the new Rayista coach, Presa unloaded the dismissal on the backs of the fans. “On the part of the stadium he has failed dear. He has not deserved that treatment due to the behavior he has had.. “It’s a sad day,” defended a top leader who lives in a continuous war with a large part of the crowd.
The last point of disagreement, which will also bring a queue, is the announcement of a possible relocation of Campo de Vallecas. As reported in this newspaper, the fans are completely opposed to Rayo moving from its stadium and, above all, to the possibility of seeing it outside the neighborhood. The idea of a new field has been on the table for months, although it was a message from Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, that revived the project.
Presentation of the new coach of Rayo Vallecano, Íñigo Perez. / EFE
The only Primera team that does not sell tickets online
Presa took the slipstream of Ayuso, who said that it is “unsustainable” for Rayo to continue playing in Vallecas. After the reactions that occurred, the Community delegated responsibility – despite being the owner of the stadium – to a club that does not have many options in the district to build its new stadium: it could move to Entrevías, Ensanche or Valdecarros, depending on El Periódico de España, from the Ibérica Prensa Group, advanced. The other option would be to move to the adjacent Villa de Vallecas, where the Madrid club’s sports city is already based. None of these convince the rayista social masses, who demand a remodeling of the current stadium and criticize the contradictions in Presa’s speech.
“It is not a modern stadium, it is uncomfortable, with bad access and it does not have parking for players and authorities – Payaso Fofó street is blocked on match days for this -. All this affects the club’s income,” claimed the president of the club. franjirrojo team in an interview with ‘Onda Madrid’. The fans blame him, for example, that in weeks like this, in which Rayo hosts Real Madrid, there is no option to buy tickets online. It is the only Primera team that has not digitized this process. In the Second Division, only FC Andorra and SD Amorebieta do not have an online gateway, although the Andorran team allows online booking.
Added to this is the lack of foresight. Year after year, the Madrid team is the last to present its season ticket campaign, as well as the first kits, which causes queues at the stadium ticket offices that last hours. Those who wanted to attend this Sunday’s game have had to physically go to the field, where they have been attended from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and on Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until game time (2:00 p.m.). The price of the cheapest ticket is 70 euros (Background) and the most expensive, without taking into account the Central Box, 120 euros (Preference central tribune).
Vallecas Stadium, one of the smallest fields in Spain. / JUANJO MARTIN / EFE
The 2,000 seats that remain free in Vallecas
Every week social networks are filled with photos denouncing the state of the infrastructure or the cleanliness of the facilities. Anti-violence comes from sanctioning the Rayista fan who touched Ocampos’s ass, but also the club. The reason: “One of the roads in the sports venue was full of large objects and tools that prevented possible emergency exit” during the match against UD Las Palmas. Up to 12,477 spectators gathered to watch this match on matchday 21, according to LaLiga data. in a field with 14,505 locations, according to information on the official Rayo website. It is the second smallest, only ahead of Montilivi (Girona) with 14,642 seats after the last reform.
This contrasts with the capacity argument that Raúl Martín Presa also uses. “It is necessary to expand the capacity of the stadium itself or a comprehensive reform, which is difficult due to urban planning. Today, for example, for the umpteenth game in a row we have the entire house full“, claimed the president before Rayo – Sevilla, a key duel for permanence, which registered a good start despite being scheduled for a Monday. Again, according to official data, 12,546 spectators watched the match, so there were 2,000 free ticket offices. Last season, with better sporting results, the average was 12,537 fans.
“There is no such continuous fullness nor the need for a larger field, what is necessary is to remodel the current one,” they point out from the ADRV Platform with the season’s statistics in hand, during which seven matches have been played with an attendance of less than 13,000 spectators, two of which had an attendance of less than 12,000 and only two, against Atlético and FC Barcelona, were around 14,000, while against Real Madrid the first real full house of the campaign is expected. A duel with multiple confrontations. The field against the leader and the disastrous streak of results. And the one in the stands against the box. Two battles that have been fighting for years in a field that is fighting to even stay standing.
2024-02-17 09:02:24
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